US alleges ASML EUV chip tool in China; ASML denies claim
Original: The US says ASML’s top chip tool may be in China. ASML says it isn’t
Why This Matters
ASML's EUV monopoly is critical to advanced chip production. A breach would undermine US export control strategy limiting China's AI capabilities.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told ASML executives he believes an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine may be in China, breaching export controls. ASML denies any EUV system exists there. Administration officials claim evidence but haven't disclosed it.
According to Bloomberg, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised concerns in recent meetings with senior ASML executives that one of the Dutch company's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines may have reached China, violating export controls in place since the first Trump administration. Senior administration officials told Bloomberg they possess evidence ASML shipped EUV-related components and transport equipment to China but have not disclosed this evidence to media outlets or ASML itself. The Commerce Department did not respond to Bloomberg's questions about whether it has evidence of an actual EUV system in China. ASML categorically denies any such machine exists or has ever existed in China. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet told the outlet six weeks prior that the company tracks every machine shipped and that they are either in active use with monitored customers or have been dismantled. He noted ASML maintains internal firewalls separating employees with EUV access from those without, with China-based staff intentionally on the restricted side. ASML is the world's only supplier of EUV lithography equipment, which enables printing advanced semiconductor patterns. This monopoly, combined with insatiable AI-driven demand, has made ASML Europe's most valuable public company at approximately $700 billion market capitalization.